Favorite Failure
by smiles1116
Summary: Mitzu can't do well in class no matter what she does. What happens when she gains a tutor?


[Favorite Failure] Kakashi oneshot (for kyoslover1993)

_This is a request from kyoslover1993. Oh my goodness... I'm finally DONE! :O … YAY! :D_

Name: Mitzu Okeva

Looks: Dark hair, emerald eyes, fair skin

Personality: Shy and kick-ass

Other: Has been friends with Kakashi since childhood

Attempts: Romance and some kinkiness

***Please note this is modern day.

Mitzu stares at her paper in a mix of dismay and disbelief. Not again. No freaking way. She had studied for HOURS for this exam... and yet here in front of her is the huge crimson F painted haphazardly at the top of her paper. No... just no. There has to be some sort of mistake. Eighty hours of studying beginning two weeks in advance didn't even get her above a 40%.

It doesn't help when Kakashi – her lifelong rival and best friend from childhood, the man she has still remained friends with after all this time – leans over and mutters, "How'd you do, Mitz?"

She snaps her head around with a slight glare. Here is the man who does nothing. Absolutely nothing. He doesn't take notes. He doesn't study. He doesn't read the chapters. Hell would freeze over tenfold before he ever opened his book. He doesn't pay attention in class. He doesn't care.... And he doesn't fail. He's not the one who receives F after F in the most important class of the year. He's not the one who pours every ounce of his spare energy and more into studying the material and preparing for the exams. He's not the one who spends hour after hour labeling blank diagrams, copying the pictures, and drawing his own pictures. He's not the one who goes to the study tables and every study session. He's not the one who tries his best and studies constantly. He's not the one who has grown antisocial because he spends every moment of his free time studying. He's not the one who stays up until 3 and gets up at 6 the nights leading up to the test.... He's not the one who fails because his best isn't good enough.

Mitzu simply stares at the man who has a mask covering the lower half of his face, his headband permanently pulled down over his left eye. His one visible eye gives her a slightly confused yet curious look.

"... Mitzu?" The girl continues to stare at him before speaking quietly as the rest of the class disperses.

"... You want to know how I did?" Kakashi nods slightly. Mitzu slowly turns her head back to her things and begins to mechanically pack up her things, taking great care to organize everything. She takes her time, painstakingly putting everything exactly where she wants it. She even goes as far as to make sure the papers are flush in their stacks. She pulls her zipper shut and stands, hair the only thing shielding her face from him.

She hasn't been out with him in ages. She's always studying. She hasn't gone to his room in weeks. They haven't had their weekly Friday night movie in two months, a tradition carried on from the time they were seven. Her relationships with people are breaking. He's the only one left who still seeks her out and asks her if she wants to do something... even if he already knows the answer.

Mitzu swings her bag onto her back and says quietly. "... I got a 38." She can feel the look of shock on Kakashi's face as he stares at her... well, the look of shock in his one visible eye, anyway. Without another word, she turns and walks out of the classroom, leaving the man in his seat... with an 87 at the top of his paper.

***The next day***

Mitzu had cried. She had walked straight back to her room and promptly fell onto her bed and cried herself to sleep. What was the point? It wasn't like there was anything else she could do. It's not like there's anything she CAN do. What's the point? Maybe she should just quit. Not caring seems to work for Kakashi. Maybe it will work for her, too.

She walks slowly toward the library with her head down, on her way to meet the tutor her professor had told her to meet with. She loses herself in her thoughts as she walks._ It wouldn't be so bad if he studied... if he earned the marks he receives.... I'm jealous.... He doesn't care and gets high marks. I do my best... and I still fail. If he studied, his marks would be good because he tried. He would deserve it.... Why am I the one struggling to keep from drowning?_

She slowly walks up the steps to the library, planning to tell her tutor he can go screw himself and that she's simply going to go home and quit trying.

But as in the words of Robert Burns... the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

***Meanwhile***

Kakashi sighs and sits in the chair in the library. Surprisingly, he's on time for once... and he begins to wonder where Mitzu is. He lets his mind drift back to the end of yesterday's class when they got their exams back. He had remained in his seat for several minutes after she walked out of the classroom. He had finally stood and gathered his papers before walking out of the room... but he hadn't gone back to his room. He had gone straight to the office of the professor who taught their course... and requested to be assigned as Mitzu's tutor. Even if he didn't study... she didn't deserve to keep failing like this.... And he planned to do everything he could to keep it from happening again.

***Meanwhile***

Mitzu sighs as she enters the building and glances around, slightly surprised to see Kakashi in the corner. She catches his eye and gives the faintest of smiles, making a beeline for him. She lets her bag slide to the floor and curls up next to him on the small couch.

"Hey, Kashi...."

"Mitz...." He slides an arm around her shoulders and holds her for a moment, letting her know he's here. He briefly wonders if their professor told her that he requested to be her tutor but doesn't want to mention it... just in case she doesn't know. The girl sighs.

"... I'm supposed to be meeting a tutor here... but I don't see him, so I'm not going to bother." Ah, that must mean she doesn't know. He heaves a sigh before saying quietly.

"I suppose I could study with you.... It wouldn't hurt me, and maybe it will help you remember things. It's not like I was doing anything, anyway." He gives her a slightly amused look. "Gai was driving me insane."

Mitzu chuckles softly, leaning into his hold. Kakashi's roommate always made her laugh.... He's a rather odd man who has a fetish for green spandex and a bowl haircut and likes to say things are "youthful" when he's happy about them. "Are you sure about that? I don't want to interrupt your nap."

"Nah, I wasn't sleeping anyway." He grins slightly behind his mask.

"... My affinity for failing might rub off on you."

"... Maybe my affinity for not studying and still knowing will rub off on you."

"Last chance to back out, Kashi.... Are you sure you want to try to teach a failure?" Kakashi smiles gently at her.

"Of course I do.... You're my favorite failure."


End file.
